TIP OF THE WEEK

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I’m heading into the third trimester, and it’s like my mind and body have just gotten the memo that it’s time to start gearing up for this baby.

I’ve been having those “unprepared” dreams…you know, the kind where you’re in college and you have to take a test, only you haven’t studied one iota, or even attended a single class, and you’re panicking because you don’t even know where the test is taking place? It’s kind of like that, only with diapers in your backpack.

Last night, I dreamed that I was out for lunch with some coworkers when I looked down and realized that my belly was completely flat. So, I had to wonder: “But, where’s the baby?! I don’t remember getting a baby out of the crib this morning, or feeding him, or changing his diaper, or anything at all. Did I forget about the baby? Did I just leave him in his crib all alone?” In my dream, I race out of the restaurant in a panic, running through unfamiliar streets, trying to figure out where our house is, and where in the world the baby is, until I eventually wake up in a flood of relief.

My hormones are obviously raging. And, my nesting instincts are kicking in big time. It seems kind of early to be folding burp cloths and oohing and ahhing over teeny tiny onesies, but I’m taking advantage of these hormonal bursts of energy while I can. I can already feel myself getting kind of big and lumbering. Already, strangers have been saying things to me like: “You gonna have that baby today?” And when I tell them I have three more months to go, they tend to wig out. I swear, I have had this exact same conversation at least ten times in the past week alone:

“You’re not going to go into labor here, are you?!”

“No, I still have three more months to go…” I respond, rubbing my ginormous belly.

“No way! Seriously?!” (Eyes are bugging out here, and mouths are agape.)

And, then, I inevitably get these two questions: “Are you SURE?!” and “Is it TWINS?!”

In any case, it obviously looks like I'm on the homestretch, and it definitely feels like I’m on the homestretch, so these nesting instincts are totally coming in handy. (I wish I had them all the time—I’d certainly get a lot more done.) Now that Charlie’s successfully sleeping in his big boy bed, I’ve been getting the nursery ready for the baby, and seeing it all coming together makes it feel like this baby really is imminent. I love to sit in the rocking chair in the nursery for a few quiet moments, anticipating our baby and enjoying the relative calm before the spit up hits the fan.

And I'm not the only one who’s been getting in on the nesting action. I just unearthed and washed some of the baby toys, then put them away in the nursery only to have Julia and Charlie ransack the toy bin, tossing things out over their shoulders like they were digging a hole to China. With each toss, Julia would sigh wistfully: “Oh, Mommy, you found this! I want to play with it, so I can bremember when I was a baby.”

“Me, too!” Charlie pipes in.

Then, they pull out sock puppets and stuffed animals and put on a puppet show for my belly. The baby kicks his applause, and it really does feel like he’s going to be here before we know it.

Join FitPregnancy.com's Managing Editor Dana Rousmaniere each week as she blogs about her third pregnancy.